HASTINGS, Mich. (WOOD) — A man from Hastings will walk from his hometown to St. Ignace in late August.
Mike Hamp will walk a total of 284 miles, 25 miles a day. Hamp’s goal is to bring awareness to his nonprofit, The Values Not Feelings Organization. It’s about bringing awareness to mental health, addiction and sobriety. All issues Hamp has tackled throughout his lifetime.
“Addiction for me started back in high school, I was 16-years-old when I had four shoulder surgeries and got hooked on opiods,” said Hamp. “It wasn’t easy you know, overdoses, almost losing my life and losing marriages and my kids. I realized what I was doing was probably going to take my life.”
It took Hamp 16 years to get sober and change his life around, through nutrition and working out. His life was on an upswing until an injury kept him from going to the gym for his natural high.
“The funk, the darkness, the depression, it hit like tenfold and got so intense that I really didn’t know what to really do,” said Hamp. “I just started walking, I had to get outside of the house.”
That’s when his new “natural high” became walking.
“I feel more clear here, I feel like I can think, like it’s not chaos as much when I’m out here doing this,” said Hamp.
The clarity and calm Hamp feels is something he wants to share with others. It’s the reason behind the 284 miles from Hastings to St. Ignace.
“I’m going to show the people that are really battling that you can really do this without turning to that stuff without literally killing yourself as your trying to live,” said Hamp.
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